Time to Upgrade India CEPA, Second Wave Investments in Semis, Defence: South Korea DCM

The Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) of the Korean Embassy in India, Sang-Woo Lim, on Thursday said this is a good time for India and South Korea to consider upgrading their Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).

"This is a great time to strengthen Korea-India trade relations further. Korea and India have had a CEPA in place for the last 10 years. This is a good time to consider upgrading our CEPA," he said. 

"It is about time to have the second wave of Korean investments in India, especially in strategic areas, such as shipbuilding, semiconductors, and the defence industry. I do see some positive movements in that direction," he added.
"India is reviewing and upgrading the Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) that it has with other countries. We're looking at doing the same kind of approach," he said.

Highlighting the growing bilateral relations, the DCM said, "In 2023, around 100,000 Koreans came to India and vice versa. That figure in 2025 has doubled. We have 200,000 Koreans coming to India and 200,000 Indians going to Korea. So it shows over the past three years, we have a lot more business going on between our two countries."

He further talked about the decades-old business relations between both countries and said, "Korean companies have been in India ever since the 90s. When India first went through the economic reforms, Korean big companies were the first ones to come. Now it's been 30 years, and companies like LG, Samsung, have settled down very well in India and feel like an Indian company."